Rules, Rituals and Remembrance: Managing Visitor Experience at Gallipoli and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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Abstract
Dark tourism sites must balance remembrance, education, and visitor demand while safeguarding the dignity of tragic pasts. This comparative study examines the management of two emblematic sites: the Gallipoli Historical Site in Türkiye and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland. Using a qualitative, document-based analysis, the research examines official regulations and interpretive strategies through the conceptual lens of Stone's (2006) Dark Tourism Spectrum. The study focuses on how formal rules (codes of conduct) and informal rituals (commemorative practices) are deployed at each location. Findings reveal that Auschwitz represents a mature international model with a strict, rule-dominant framework that reinforces its universal educational mission. In contrast, Gallipoli's evolving, ritual-dominant framework—formalized through its 2014 directorate—focuses on managing large-scale national commemorations. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting how management choices directly shape the ethical experience of remembrance and offers a transferable framework for other sites of difficult heritage.
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